Guangzhou Company Legal Counsel

What Our General Counsel Offer

In China, General Counsel also called long-term legal counsel. For Start-Ups and Small Businesses, we offer a unique service and pricing structure known as our General Counsel program. For a yearly or monthly flat rate, or a project based flat rate, we handle all corporate and commercial legal matters for our Start-Up and Small Business clients. Our experienced attorneys, many of them former in-house counsel, are committed to helping our clients in all aspects of their business needs and problem solving while pursuing their Entrepreneurial American Dream without the overhead associated with employing full-time in-house counsel. Our lawyers offer your company legal services as if we were your own in-house attorney – we take the time to learn about your business and its operations, so that whenever you seek legal and/or business advice, we can counsel you and provide solutions in the context of that knowledge. While serving as General Counsel, we handle transactional matters such as business formation issues, contracts, licensing, non-disclosure agreements, corporate finance, and labor and employment issues. Although we offer Litigation Management services, Litigation is typically not included in the flat fee arrangement but may be separately negotiated.

Having the experience of being chief counsel for two other major institutions, our lawyers are convinced that the retention of a number of key outside legal firms, rather than retaining in-house lawyers, is the most effective model to responsively organize and operate the legal affairs for an organization that is growing and advancing rapidly. Large in-house legal departments tend to become insular and lose perspective of what is happening in the law and with competitors since by their very nature in-house attorneys only serve one client. Because most law firms provide counsel to a broader base and audience their ability to provide cutting-edge advice, especially in the area of healthcare which is constantly changing, is paramount. Fixed costs are kept at a minimum.

Law firms are chosen carefully with special consideration on breadth of expertise and responsiveness. A point of contact within the outside firm is established and legal work is coordinated effectively and efficiently through that point of contact with our General Counsel. We have been retained by many companies as external General Counsel.

Hiring a Law Firm Partner as General Counsel

Law firm partners have neither the insider advantages of internal candidates for General Counsel nor the functional experience of a sitting General Counsel. Nevertheless, there are many talented law firm partners who could potentially fill the General Counsel role. The real issue is whether they have the right attributes for succeeding in the position, including:

A generalist’s grasp of the legal landscape. Because law firm partners often specialize in a narrow, complex area, make sure that they have been exposed to a wide scope of legal fields.

Experience with other legal systems. Law firm partners are often experts within a particular domestic legal system and operate in a particular country. But many also have international experience such as handling cross-border transactions subject to the laws of another country.

Ability to go beyond legal risk assessment. Good General Counsels must be able to take business factors into account in recommending a course of action, to balance many different interests, and sometimes to advocate a solution that is legally not the safest.

A collegial temperament. Law firm partners who understand that General Counsels are often implicitly measured by their judgment, collaborative skills, and ability to quietly exert influence are likely to make the transition more easily than partners who are accustomed to a starring role in their firms.

Managerial skills. Make sure that General Counsel candidates from law firms are adept at the cost side of legal operations. In addition, they must be able to manage a geographically spread and heavily matrixed department, a skill that is often found among international practice heads in law firms.

The absence of any of these qualities should not necessarily be regarded as decisive. Most top law firm partners are capable of quickly adapting to the generalist legal role and of covering a broad variety of matters across different geographies. In an environment where the job of General Counsels continues to grow more complex, there is no good reason to categorically ignore this talented pool of potential candidates.

Our Guangzhou lawyers are China law expertise. Our lawyers speak English. You need lawyers to work for you when you are doing business in Guangzhou. We are your choice when you are choosing Guangzhou legal counsel.